Market pressures keep lid on growth but business fundamentals remain strong for rubber and tire machinery makers
London - The overall value of sales among suppliers of rubber and tire processing/manufacturing equipment participating in the ERJ Machinery Survey 2023 remained on a par with the level recorded last year.
In a like-for-like comparison, total sales among respondents to the survey both this year and in 2022 reached $3130.6 million, representing a year-on-year increase of just 0.5% – a far cry from the growth rate of over 20% recorded last year.
The flat market scenario identified in this year’s survey reflected challenges around global economic and geopolitical developments, such as the impact of Russia’s continuing war on Ukraine, as well as the – now lifted – Covid lockdowns in China.
Among other significant factors, the increased strength of the US dollar took the shine off the performance of many rubber & tire machinery suppliers – currency effects turning year-on-year gains for many respondents into year-on-year declines.
European-based companies registered a 3.0% year-on-year increase in sales to $1,425.2 million in the 2023 survey, so that the global market share of companies based in Europe including Turkey edged up one percentage point to 45.5% (see table p20).
At $1,379.7 million, sales among China-based rubber and tire equipment makers that responded to the survey this year and last, fell by 3.0%, data from the China Rubber Machinery Association shows.
Hence, the global market pendulum moved the other way for Chinese manufacturers, whose 44.1% share of recorded sales was a marked reverse from 45.7% of last’s year’s total.
As in previous years, respondents were asked to identify the fastest growing geographic market regions for their businesses. The question provided one of the most eye-catching statistics in this year’s survey...
Read the full survey report in the May/June issue of European Rubber Journal magazine or the online ‘featured content’ version via the 'Focus' tab on the ERJ homepage.
This article is only available to subscribers - subscribe today
Subscribe for unlimited access. A subscription to European Rubber Journal includes:
Every issue of European Rubber Journal (6 issues) including Special Reports & Maps.
Unlimited access to ERJ articles online
Daily email newsletter – the latest news direct to your inbox